He Will Direct Your Paths

He Will Direct Your Paths 

Prov. 3:5-6

We have all probably heard the song that Carrie Underwood so eloquently sings, Jesus Take The Wheel. How many of us completely and utterly surrender ourselves to Him? Whether we understand the why or not, that is exactly what we are supposed to do. We will come to find that He works for the good of those who love Him. By surrendering ourselves to Him completely, we will come to find the many ways in which he is blessing us.

Recently my husband and I have decided to embark on a homeschool adventure. Our oldest daughter is at the age where she is to start kindergarten in the Fall. After prayerful consideration and studying the Holy Bible we feel completely lead to the decision we have come to – Homeschooling here we come!

His ways are not ours and ours are not His, I have read this verse many times but with this decision it smacked me right between the eyes. I retreated back into the think tank or more accurately my “prayer closet” and, began then to realize that public school would have been the spiritual death of the spiritual life we have taught them to live. Remember God isn't allowed in public school, and you know who that means is among our children roaming the halls. In addition to that with the no child left behind act, what sort of educational enrichment would they receive? Sharpening the dullest crayon in the crayon box does not make any of the other 63 any sharper.

Homeschooling began to enter our thoughts and we started asking ourselves, why don't we do that? As we tried to consider what the Lord would have us do, we put the specific question aside so we could examine what the Lord has told us to do, so that we could come back to our current question and tackle it from a biblical base.

In the Bible, very early on, we read how the Word of God is to be held in our hearts and practiced daily. His Word is supposed to be meditated on, talked about, shared and lived. His Words are the light unto our feet. How profound! In all things we are supposed to consider God and His Word. We are to weigh every choice and every decision with what we have received, His Holy Word. C.S. Lewis has been quoted saying, “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance”.  Amen.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 spoke so clearly to my heart in considering what to do about the decision we were making in regard to home vs. public school. Here is the NIV of it;

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

How can I expect to fulfill this part of scripture if I send my children off to public school for 6-8 hours a day. It's simple, I couldn't. I am certainly aware of how the public school system would not fulfill this part of scripture on my behalf if I were to entrust the care of my children to them during school hours.

The public school environment is like ground that is infertile and, we are not to cast our pearls before swine. God is being taken out of the pledge of allegiance and kids are not allowed to carry Bibles, let alone pray. Evolution is taught as truth despite that it was scientifically disproven decades ago. Children are no longer taught about morals and virtues but are instead counseled on being safe while being immoral, quite the oxymoron isn't it. It's the same as asking children to play with fire and telling them to not get burned. 

 Knowing this I could not in good conscience remain true to our faith and values and send our children into such an environment. It would be like seeking a babysitter only to find one who says they will come to your house but will not keep an eye on your children. In that context it would be more than foolish, it would be negligent to allow such a sitter to watch over your children and, in such a situation you had better head to the drawing board to find another solution, one that is viable. Take this analogy and remember the sitter in the scenario is public school. In light of this my husband and I found ourselves on our knees many times.

Homeschool on the other hand is a place where children can grow not only intellectually and socially but also spiritually and emotionally. Why should a parent ever be willing to sacrifice their child's spiritual growth for intellectual and social growth? I hope the answer is obvious, spiritual growth should never be sacrificed. The vine will bear no fruit unless it remains in the tree. By homeschooling children, they receive intellectual advancement beyond their public school counterparts because there is no such thing as the dullest crayon, there is only a lifelong love for learning and a quest to continuously seek and find. By homeschooling, there is intellectual growth with no ceiling. There is social enrichment where children are able to take field trips together, play together and enjoy other christian companionship without being told they are to sit in a room with their peers and remain eyes forward, seated and silent. 

 Most importantly, in addition to the academic and social benefits to homeschool the spiritual benefits are numerous to say the least. The homeschool day is conducive to God, prayer, and His Holy Word, it encourages children to continue walking in faith, training our children up in the way they should go as we are told to do in scripture. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord our God and, where he leads, we will follow.

In seeking His will for our family we have been lead in a direction that we had not previously considered and, in walking in faith we are putting God first. We are trusting in His perfect will. We are thrilled to begin our homeschooling adventure knowing God is at the wheel, for we can do all things through Him, who gives us strength. Just as God has brought us to this road, may He bless our path as we step out in faith and, begin our homeschooling journey.

Are you at a crossroad?  Are you currently trying to make a decision?  Unsure maybe of what to do or how to decide?  Commit yourself to reading the Bible, finding biblically supportive mentors and, seeking His will through prayer.  I pray God may be the lamp unto your feet and the light unto your path.

May God Bless You